Lively debate on the state of press freedom in Managua

Minutes after I woke up to get ready for the presentation of
a CPJ report
on press freedom conditions in Nicaragua,
I turned on the TV. Nicaragua
was shaken by the sudden death of Managua's
mayor, Alexis Arguello, who was found at home with a gunshot wound to his
chest. Arguello, who had won three world boxing titles for Nicaragua and
was considered the greatest athlete in the country's history, committed
suicide, according to several local press reports. While an autopsy is pending
and authorities are investigating his death, on Wednesday the government
declared three days of mourning.

The impact of this major news event in the local media
challenged our efforts to capture the attention of the Nicaraguan press. But
the support of prominent journalist Carlos
Fernando Chamorro, who heads the Center for Media Investigations (CINCO), a
nonprofit group that promotes media research, democracy, and investigative
journalism, and from CENIDH, the leading Nicaraguan human rights organization,
brought together a good number of reporters representing the main news
organizations and press groups. Among them was leading women's rights activist
and journalist Sofía Montenegro,
who has also suffered legal persecution during Daniel Ortega's tenure.

Chamorro, CENIDH's lawyer Mauro Ampie Vilchez, and Roberto
Larios, president of the pro-Ortega press group Unión de Periodistas de Nicaragua,
were invited by CPJ to offer their comments on the report.

Before presenting the CPJ report, I took the opportunity to
once again express our concern about the situation for the press in Honduras.
According to CPJ research, since the coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya,
reporters have been detained and military personnel have temporarily closed
several broadcasters and blocked signals of international networks. I reiterated
our
call to Honduran authorities to allow the press to report freely without
fear of reprisal.

During his opening comments, Chamorro thanked CPJ for putting
a spotlight on the situation of the press in Nicaragua. The host of "Esta Noche"
and "Esta Semana" on privately owned Channel 8 said that the flow of
information cannot depend on Ortega's government discretion. "It is a right of
all Nicaraguan citizens," added Chamorro, criticizing Ortega's strategy to
ignore and disparage the private media. "When the information doesn't flow with
transparency, democracy is hurt," Chamorro said.

Chamorro said that Ortega prides himself on making Nicaragua a participatory
democracy. It is an obvious contradiction to his strategy of isolation and
secrecy towards public scrutiny, added Chamorro. He said that despite Ortega's
attempts to intimidate and harass independent critics in the media, there have
been great efforts by a new generation of Nicaraguan journalists to promote
public transparency and responsibility.

Chamorro expressed concern over the lack of commitment by
Nicaraguan officials to comply with the law on access to public information,
and argued that those officials who don't comply should be sanctioned, as
established by this provision. He praised CPJ's recommendations in the report
but expressed skepticism that Ortega will comply with any of them.

CENIDH's Ampie Vilchez said that there is a pattern of
systematic attacks on freedom of expression by the Nicaraguan government that
is damaging the health of democracy. He pointed out that in the cases of
attacks and threats against journalists and human rights defenders there is
total impunity in judicial investigations. Ampie Vilchez said that by engaging
on attacks on the press and launching systematic campaigns to discredit
independent journalists, Nicaragua is violating international standards on
freedom of expression.

Pro-government Roberto Larios harshly criticized our report,
offering comments that looked like they had been written by Ortega or his wife,
Rosario Murillo. Without specifically addressing the substance of the report,
Larios compared it with a U.S. State Department document. He argued that it
didn't represent the position of numerous Nicaraguan journalists but the view
of the "media owners that represent the oligarchy." Most of his assertions
resembled the arguments of the Nicaraguan government. Although Larios was not
capable of providing an elaborate response to CPJ's conclusions, his comments
did spark a lively debate with journalists and activists in the audience that
lasted more than 90 minutes.

CPJ Senior Americas Program Coordinator Carlos Lauría, a native of Buenos Aires, is a widely published journalist who has written extensively for Noticias, the leading Spanish-language newsmagazine.
Follow him on Facebook @ CPJ en Español.